The invention relates to a support platform for wall mounted toilets, particularly to support the additional weight placed on the toilet by overweight, obese or severely obese individuals.
Although there are many types of toilets, those used in hospitals, clinics and other health care facilities, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, weight loss clinics, gyms, office buildings and other related buildings are often wall mounted. Part of the reason for mounting to the wall is to make cleaning easier as this type of toilet leaves a space between the floor and the bottom of the toilet. Frequently, wall mounted toilets are located in bathrooms where a floor drain is available so that the entire floor can be washed and drained easily without having to hold the wash water in a container. Where the toilet is floor mounted, cleanliness at the interface of the toilet and the floor is not assured and bacteria from urine and fecal matter are not always eliminated by normal cleaning procedures. In hospital rooms, clinics, recovery rooms and nursing homes, this is of particular concern as patients may be immune compromised and subject to secondary or hospital acquired infections from bacterial and viral contamination.
Wall mounted toilets are typically rated for a normal sized patient; 350 pounds is a common weight limit for such fixtures. With the increase in obesity in the United States and other nations, there is a high likelihood that an overweight, obese or severely obese individual will use a wall mounted toilet somewhere in the facility. With a limit in the rated weight bearing capacity of the toilet, there is a risk that the toilet mountings will fail and the overweight, obese or severely obese individual will fall. Any fall by such an individual, particularly one where a toilet fixture breaks away from a wall or one where the porcelain breaks, could lead to an injury. Furthermore, there is a risk of damage to the bathroom which can be costly to repair. The issue is of sufficient concern that Harrell and Miller discuss hospital design for bariatric patients and suggest the need for a bariatric toilet seat support (Health Facilities Management, March 2004, pp 34-38).
Current techniques to alleviate this problem in hospitals use wooden supports as a wedge between the wall mounted toilet and the floor. These supports are not easily adjustable. Their composition is not easily cleaned and can become contaminated with microorganisms such as E. coli which is commonly found in bathrooms.
In response to this problem, BAR Industries (Adairsville, Ga.) has developed the SK1000 series toilet support. The support is described in two pending and published US applications, U.S. Ser. No. 11/205,666 to Wright and U.S. Ser. No. 10/701,812 to Wright et al. This support is designed to be mounted using the wall mounts for the toilet and is adjustable using a screw type bumper positioned close to the front of the toilet. It cradles the bottom of the fixture with an arm-like single support and attaches integrally to the wall mounting bolts. The device described in the '666 and '812 applications can be used by each toilet design. Since the BAR Industries toilet support is attached at the wall mounts, it is more difficult to remove or move to a new location. This permanency makes cleaning and repairing the fixture or floor more difficult. It also increases the number of units required by a hospital by reducing the ability to move the fixture to a new bathroom. As the number of units purchased increases, the cost advantage claimed by the manufacturer decreases. Since the SK1000 uses a single bumper style foot, all of the weight of the user is held by the single foot. If the single foot fails under the load (as could occur over time and through exposure to loads), the device will no longer provide support and the toilet could still break away from the wall. Finally, the installation of the SK1000 requires removal of the mounting bolts contained on the toilet. This can cause the toilet to break its seal and can create a leak. These deficiencies make the SK1000 undesirable as a mobile and interchangeable support.
Another company, DB Industries (Little Suamico, Wis.) has developed a Bariatric Toilet Seat Support (BTSS) as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,889,392 to Karnopp et al and published U.S. application Ser. No. 11/057,793. This support is a four legged stand made of stainless steel which is inserted between the toilet seat and the bowl. It is designed to provide additional weight bearing capacity on the toilet seat itself and not specifically on the fixture. The four legs are adjustable providing for the ability to match any unevenness in the floor. It also provides vertical adjustment with two stainless steel threaded rods with rubber end caps that are fit to the wall behind the toilet. Locking nuts are used at all six adjustable arms or legs. The device is very large and although the manufacturer claims that it takes up little room, it is cumbersome to position, use and maintain. It is also made from a complex series of components leaving multiple opportunities for stress failure. As it is placed between the toilet seat and the bowl, there is a risk that the seat may break under the weight of the bariatric patient. Furthermore, because the unit is positioned underneath the toilet seat and is exposed to the water, there is a higher risk of contamination by fecal matter and/or bacteria. This creates a need for more frequent cleanings than the instant invention. The BTSS is also too large to be heat sterilized in a standard hospital autoclave. Finally, the BTSS does not fit all wall hung toilet models and the company offers customized manufacturing.
Other devices designed for toilets are typically wall mounts that are used at the time of construction. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,638 to Unertl which shows a permanent mounting means for a wall mounted water closet fixture. These devices are not specifically designed for bariatric use, but simply as further methods for securing wall mounted elements of the toilet assembly. These devices are permanent attachments to the toilet or its tank and cannot be easily moved. They are ideally used at installation or during renovation of the bathroom and not ideal for use on an existing wall mounted toilet.